Nauru News

The boarding of a Taiwanese tourist boat by China's coast guard near sensitive frontline islands triggered "panic" among Taiwan's people, a government minister said on Tuesday, but Taiwan's military added it was not planning to get involved.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island's rejection, has been wary of efforts by Beijing to ramp up pressure on Taipei following the election last month of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing views as a dangerous…

Canada's The Metals Company (TMC) aims to apply next year for a licence to start mining in the Pacific Ocean, with production expected to get underway by as early as the fourth quarter of 2025, it said in a statement.TMC has been at the forefront of efforts to begin extracting polymetallic nodules from the ocean floor, a nascent industry that could boost supplies of metals considered vital to the global energy transition, including nickel and cobalt.Environmental campaigners warn…

In the depths of the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii, trillions of potato-shaped rocks are scattered across the seabed - containing minerals such as nickel, cobalt and manganese vital for new green technologies in the global energy transition.In this ocean region - the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) - an abundance of the rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, is increasingly fuelling debate about the mining of metals needed to produce technology such as batteries for electric…

The International Seabed Authority will start accepting applications in July from companies that want to mine the ocean's floor, a decision that came after the U.N. body spent the past two weeks debating standards for the new and controversial practice.Deep-sea mining would extract cobalt, copper, nickel, and manganese - key battery materials - from potato-sized rocks called "polymetallic nodules" on the ocean's floor at depths of 4 to 6 km (2.5 to 4 miles). They are abundant…

As companies race to expand renewable energy and the batteries to store it, finding sufficient amounts of rare earth metals to build the technology is no easy feat. That’s leading mining companies to take a closer look at a largely unexplored frontier – the deep ocean seabed.A wealth of these metals can be found in manganese nodules that look like cobblestones scattered across wide areas of deep ocean seabed. But the fragile ecosystems deep in the oceans are little understood…

The Metals Company (TMC) and Allseas have successfully completed the initial deep-water trials of the polymetallic nodule collector vehicle in the Atlantic Ocean, TMC said Thursday.To remind, back in March, The Metals Company (TMC), a company extracting battery metals from seafloor polymetallic nodules, said it had together with its strategic partner and shareholder, Allseas, completed the deployment and wet-test commissioning of their pilot robotic nodule collector vehicle at the Port of Rotterdam…

Regulations governing deep-sea mining will take longer to finalize due to the global pandemic, a group of Latin American countries said, creating uncertainty for companies looking to mine the sea bed for metals, including cobalt and nickel.The delayed negotiations also pose a potential difficulty for companies seeking financing from investors to mine the sea floor.The U.N.’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) is working on global rules covering sea bed mining, which is not allowed…

The initial phase of the Glofouling Partnerships project is now well and truly underway with a series of technical workshops in the Pacific, stated  International Maritime Organization (IMO).The UN body said that the key message delivered to participants was that once introduced, marine invasive species can be hard to eradicate - and invasive species represent a potential major threat to the Pacific Ocean's biodiversity and the ecological integrity of Small Island Developing States.The GEF-UNDP-IMO GloFouling Partnerships project aims to protect marine biodiversity by addressing bio-invasions by organisms which can build up on ship's hulls and other marine structures.Meanwhile…

Women in maritime are a key contributor to the maritime transport sector. This was the message of Helen Buni from International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s gender programme as she opened the second regional conference for Pacific Women in Maritime held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, (26–28 April). The conference highlighted the significant progress made by the women in maritime association (WIMA) in the Pacific to integrate more women into the industry. The event reaffirmed the objectives to guide the Pacific region towards gender equity and equality in the maritime industry – as well as working to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 (to empower all women and girls).

The China Navigation Company (CNCo) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment (SPREP) have today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to address critical waste management issues in the Pacific islands. Known as the “Moana Taka Partnership”, this MOU allows for CNCo vessels to carry containers of recyclable waste from eligible Pacific island ports, pro bono, to be sustainably treated and recycled in suitable ports in Asia Pacific. “This historic partnership will be of great benefit to our Pacific islands, and one for which we are very appreciative to The China Navigation Company,” said Kosi Latu, Director General of SPREP. “Our Pacific islands face an immense waste management challenge.

An International Maritime Organization (IMO)/Pacific Community (SPC) workshop in Fiji is supporting Pacific Island countries (Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) to implement treaties dealing with liability and compensation. The workshop, taking place in Suva (26-29 September), is providing a comprehensive overview of the IMO liability regime, including treaties covering wreck removal, salvage, carriage of hazardous and noxious substances, passengers, CLC, Fund, Bunkers Convention and limitation of liability.

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy completed an 18-day joint mission in the Central and South Pacific under the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative to combat transnational crimes, enforce fisheries laws and enhance regional security. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 103 from Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement Team embarked USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112) and conducted 16 fisheries enforcement boardings with the assistance of the ship’s visit, board, search and seizure team and law enforcement ship riders from Tuvalu and Nauru.

Day after day, the U.S. Coast Guard continues to conduct its 11 statutory missions with its limited resources. It is challenged to Invest in long-term operational capacity while continuing to carry out its daily missions. “We’re a small service, but as always, we do punch above our weight class,” said Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft during the 2015 Surface Navy Association symposium in Arlington, Virginia. While the Coast Guard may have drifted off course with its ambitious and holistic Deepwater recapitalization effort…

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Rush returned to its homeport following a successful 72-day deployment in the Central and Western Pacific, Monday. Rush departed in July 2014 and spent the last two months conducting operations in the Central and Western Pacific. During the deployment, Rush’s crew coordinated with multiple countries and partner agencies to conduct fisheries boardings in support of the Coast Guard’s living marine resources mission. Rush also participated in international engagement activities in American Samoa, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. Rush enforced U.S. foreign fishing laws utilizing embarked shipriders from Tonga, Tuvalu, and Nauru. Rush also enforced Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission regulations.

"Frightening" prospect of rising seas - U.N.; Islands say overlooked, fault inaction over climate. Small island states facing a "frightening" rise in sea levels will seek investments in everything fron solar energy to fisheries to boost their economies at a U.N. summit next week. Leaders will meet in Samoa in the Pacific from Sept. 1-4 to drum up partnerships with companies, development banks and donors on projects that bring in dollars and jobs while protecting oceans and environments, organisers said. Many islands from the Indian Ocean to the Caribbean are suffering erosion and coastal flooding from storm surges as global warming raises sea levels by melting ice from the Himalayas to Greenland.

The world's first deep sea mining robot sits idle on a British factory floor, waiting to claw up high grade copper and gold from the seabed off Papua New Guinea (PNG) - when a wrangle over terms is solved. Beyond PNG, in international waters, regulation and royalty terms for mining the planet's subsea wealth have also yet to be finalised. The world waits for the judgement of a United Nations agency based in Jamaica. "If we can take care of the environment we have a brand new day ahead of us.

Matson, Inc. agrees to acquire the primary assets formerly owned by Reef Shipping, a South Pacific shipping company based in Auckland, New Zealand. The assets to be acquired include four vessels and approximately 1,500 pieces of container equipment. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed and the closing of the transaction is expected to occur on or about year-end. "With this acquisition, Matson continues to expand its geographic reach into the South Pacific, and build on its well-earned expertise as a Pacific island carrier," said Matt Cox , president and CEO.

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Port Security Advisory listing nations it has determined to have inadequate port security measures. Ships that have called in any of those nations within the five previous port calls may be subject to increased port state control examination upon arrival in a U.S. port. The enhanced examination may be lessen if the ship establishes a higher security level during the port call, executes a Declaration of Security, logs all security actions in the ship’s log, and reports the actions taken to the USCG Captain of the Port (COTP) prior to arrival in the U.S. port. The nations found to have inadequate port security measures are: Albania…

The U.S. Coast Guard issued an updated Port Security Advisory. The advisory lists nations that have failed to communicate to the IMO or the USCG all required information regarding port facility security compliance. The nations listed in this Advisory are: Albania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritania, and Nauru. In a change from the previous advisory, Equatorial Guinea has been removed from the list. Ships calling at a port facility in any of the listed nations should institute additional security measures during the visit and should document those measures in appropriate ship’s records.

The U.S. Coast Guard issued a Port Security Advisory stating that Albania and Madagascar have submitted to the IMO information indicating that they are maintaining effective anti-terrorism measures in the maritime sector. The nations that have not, as yet submitted such information are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Nauru. Any vessel that visited ports in these five countries (with the exception of the Port of Monrovia in Liberia) during their last five port calls will be subjected to increased port state control upon arrival in the United States unless the vessel instituted appropriate enhanced security measures during such port call.